Colin Myler leaving the Daily News; Jim Rich to be new EIC

Colin Myler is resigning his post at the New York Daily News, where he has served as editor in chief since 2012. He will be replaced by Jim Rich, his deputy, after leaving the paper later this year.

Myler will return to his native London, according to an internal announcement distributed to staff Friday morning.

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"The sole reason is one that you might be well aware, Colin and his wife Carol are yearning to be reunited with their family and four grandchildren," News CEO Bill Holiber and owner Mort Zuckerman wrote in the memo.

Myler's departure has been in the works for some time, sources familiar with the matter told POLITICO. He will leave the tabloid in the wake of Zuckerman's attempt to sell it to a new owner, which failed despite talks with several potential suitors.

"This has literally been one of the most rewarding times of my career," Myler told POLITICO. "Mort Zuckerman is the best boss I've ever had."

He also said his return to London for family time doesn't mean he's retiring, but he didn't offer any additional details.

In his three-and-a-half years at the helm, Myler oversaw a dramatic reinvention of the News that increased the volume of splashy celebrity coverage in its pages while carving out a more national footprint online. While some veterans have privately lamented what they feel is a more downmarket direction, Myler has nonetheless championed crusading coverage of hot-button issues like gun control.

"He has changed the culture of our newsroom, expanded the Daily News brand to a national level – in print and digitally - and overseen the doubling of our website audience," Holiber and Zuckerman wrote.

As the News struggled with its finances over the past several years, Myler also was forced to preside over newsroom downsizings that claimed the jobs of various high profile and longtime reporters and editors. While the News has seen a significant increase in web traffic, its print circulation has continued a precipitous downward slide, and as with all newspapers, advertising remains challenged.

Though British, Myler, 63, was already well-known in New York media circles by the time he landed at the News, having served as the no. 2 to New York Post editor in chief Col Allan in the early to mid aughts. In 2007, he returned to London to edit the notorious Sunday tabloid News of the World, which, like the Post, was owned by News Corp.

By mid 2011, News of the World was engulfed in a criminal scandal after it was revealed that journalists there had for years been hacking into the voicemails of British notables. Though Myler was not implicated or charged, he lost his job when News Corp. decided to shutter News of the World as a means of damage control.

Myler was known to be bitter about the manner in which News Corp. handled the saga. Just a few months after News of the World bit the dust, he'd landed the top job at the company's tabloid rival in New York. He will remain on board through the end of the year, when the hand-off to Rich becomes official.

Rich is a fellow Post alumnus. He arrived at the news in 2002 and worked his way up through the sports department. In 2013 he was named executive editor; a promotion to head of digital content followed in 2014.

Colleagues, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to do so on the record, described Rich as a strong tabloid editor with a comic disposition and a drive for fast breaking news on the web.

"He is committed to continuing our enterprise journalism and the great hometown tradition championed by the News," Holiber and Zuckerman wrote. "Jim knows the impact of our popular journalism and how it can entertain and influence change for people that need a voice. He also understands the changing landscape of legacy media and has a clear strategic vision to help us evolve and prosper."

Rich did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, and a News spokeswoman declined to make him available.